


The meaning of Love: Another side, another story

by xenamoi



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Getting Together, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, There's not enough RokuVen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24329560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenamoi/pseuds/xenamoi
Summary: Ventus had a problem: he had fallen in love with the coolest person in the World, Roxas. And, although the two of them were good friends, he knew he didn't really have a chance. That didn't mean he wouldn't at least try to win his heart.The events of chapters 4 and 5 of "The meaning of Love", retold from Ven's point of view.
Relationships: Roxas/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 19





	The meaning of Love: Another side, another story

“Roxas?”

Ven’s voice brought back the boy to reality. It looks like he had once again been lost in his thoughts, as Ven noticed he was often being.

“Lea and Xion are waiting for you,” he added.

“Oh. Yeah.”

Roxas stood up. It was now time for him to leave the Land of Departure, where he came to for regular training sessions, and to go back to Twilight Town. Ventus hoped that he had nothing planned, so that he could visit him for a few days as usual.

“So, when’s the next time you are coming in Twilight Town?” asked Roxas.

Well, it looked like Ven didn’t need to ask.

“Nothing special planned, so at the usual time. Unless it bothers you,” he answered.

“Usual time is fine for me.”

Nothing planned for him too? Perfect. Ven loved the time they were spending together there. Or anywhere, for that matter. Any time they spent with each other was perfect for him, really.

Roxas grabbed his bag, and the two teens made their way to the main hall, where the others were waiting.

“About time,” said Lea. “Now let’s just leave right away.”

“Tired of losing?” teased Roxas.

“Nah, just tired of you saying that,” playfully answered the red-haired man. His tone then became more serious. “Also, I promised Isa we’d not be late this time. He’s alone when we’re all leaving like that, you know.”

“Then let’s not waste time,” stated Xion.

Everyone exchanged good-byes, and Terra, Aqua and Ventus watched their friends take their leave.

Although, to be perfectly honest, Ven only had eyes for Roxas.

_Why does he have to be so pretty?_

It might seem a bit self-centered to appreciate the looks of the guy who literally looks the exact same than you do. But it wasn’t _just_ the appearance. Roxas had a confidence, an elegance, a way of being that made him incredibly amazing. Not that it was the only part of him that was amazing, of course, everything was.

“Ven.”

Aqua’s voice startled him.

“I’ve noticed that lately, you’ve not been as focused on your training as usual. Is something wrong?”

“N-no! Everything’s fine, Aqua.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah! I mean, everything’s great, right? I guess I was just a little sloppy lately, that’s all. But no worries, it’ll all be back to normal soon!”

To add strength to his words, Ventus offered one of the radiant smiles he had the secret of.

“Ven,” firmly stated Terra. “We’ve lived together for a long time. You can’t fool us that easily.”

“H-huh?”

“There’s clearly something that is bothering you. There are a lot of moments where you don’t seem to be… there.”

“I’ve already told you, everything is fine. It’s all fine.”

Besides himself, his failures, his lost past, and… Roxas.

Aqua and Terra exchanged a look. They clearly didn’t believe him, but decided to not press further for now.

“Alright then,” declared Aqua. “But remember, we’ll always be here for you. You can tell us anything.”

“I know,” answered Ven, before excusing himself and going to his room.

Roxas.

Roxas, Roxas, Roxas.

It was quite funny, seeing how their first interaction had gone. Well, not exactly their first interaction, but…

Their actual first interaction was in the Keyblade Graveyard, during the Second Keyblade War. It was just a shared look, each surprised at actually seeing the other’s appearance, but there were significantly more important matters at hand, so they didn’t push further. Besides, Ven was already told by Lea the day before that a guy named Roxas looked just like him.

Then they all were dragged in a battle against… well, Even posited they were Replicas. Whatever they actually were, the guardians were trapped, and they all had to fight back. Here was the first time that Ven could see how awesomely cool Roxas was. He even felt the need to say it loudly during the battle.

After the war, they eventually all gathered at the Destiny Islands, to wait for Sora and Kairi’s return. And then they all stayed here for a while, getting to know each other, exchanging stories, trying to build an accurate account of the past events. There, he had the opportunity to have a small one-on-one chat with Roxas. He was pretty nice.

And did he mention he was cool? Apparently, he had come back at the exact right moment to turn the tables, made Xemnas flee, and laid waste to Saïx. Everyone present could confirm his return was glorious. While Ven himself… he had not even managed to drive back Vanitas alone, even though he had defeated a stronger version of him in the past. And afterwards, his body was pushed at its limit, and when Sora asked him to stay behind, he had no other choice but to begrudgingly agree. Aqua said that he didn’t recover well from his 11-year sleep, but…

A while later, during missions which had slowly become the new norm, Sora had proposed unusual pairings so that the guardians could really get to know each other. He had brought to attention that everyone seemed to stay in their usual groupings, and so that the team as a whole wasn’t as cohesive as it could be. Yen Sid agreed with the reasoning, and special pairings were made once. In them, Terra ended up with Sora, Aqua with Lea (this mission didn’t go well), and Ven had been paired with Roxas.

And he was thrilled! He loved making friends, Roxas was super cool, he seemed nice, nothing looked like it could go wrong. But as he mentioned before, their first actual interaction didn’t go well. Ven had not paid proper care to Roxas’s past, and didn’t notice that he was taking an Organization mindset. And so, instead of helping him, he eventually lashed out at him. Thankfully, Roxas didn’t seem to mind, he even seemed glad. Ven was grateful he didn’t manage to burn a bridge that early. They even started to bond afterwards.

As for the mission… well, it didn’t end well. He was once again able to admire how impossibly cool Roxas was, but they both had done a very reckless action that almost got them killed, and were rightfully scolded at once they got back.

Both worried about his new friend and hoping to keep bonding with him, Ven visited Twilight Town a few days later. And that was the start of a great friendship. He was so, so grateful that the two of them became close, because Roxas was the friend he could only have dreamed of.

And, after some time spent together… Did he mention how cool Roxas was? Impossibly cool. He did everything with ease, with style. And he was smart, and funny, and handsome, and… and perfect really. In hindsight, it was impossible that Ven wouldn’t have fallen in love after enough time spent with him. It didn’t happen at once, it was progressive. The realization, however, was sudden. At one point, Roxas mentioned he was cute. Time stopped, he got all sweaty and shivering, and he could have sworn his face became as red as a tomato. At that exact moment, Ven had realized the extent of his feelings.

And since then, his life became extremely hard. He knew that getting Roxas to reciprocate his feelings would be a tall task, considering how amazing he was, and how lame Ven seemed in comparison. But, despite the impossible odds, he was determined to try. He was too madly infatuated to not at least attempt something, even if it was a long shot.

Obviously, after realizing the full extent of Roxas’s awesomeness, and being perfectly conscious of the challenge that was facing him, Ven became significantly shier around him. He who once was always the one pushing to do things now became terrified of doing something wrong or ridiculous and permanently burning his chances. He really, really wanted to spend significantly more time with him, but he was too afraid to ask. Why would someone as great as Roxas want to hang more around someone like him?

Except he did. At Ventus’s great shock, Roxas asked if they could spend more time together. And apparently he didn’t ask because _he_ was afraid that Ven would turn him down! What? Could he actually have a chance after all?

From that moment Ven really tried. He brought him places, he invited him to the restaurant, he followed him around everywhere, he spent each possible ounce of free time with him, he tried to know him as best as he could. He did everything he could do without looking absolutely desperate. And… he was slowly becoming crazy. All the time, he received mixed signals. All the time. At one moment, it seemed obvious Roxas was potentially reciprocating, but the next, it seemed like there was absolutely no chance. His crush was absolutely unreadable, and it was driving him mad. He didn’t want to make a move before getting a signal, he feared too much being absolutely ridiculous and falling in his friend’s esteem, but he could do nothing of the data he had and that was driving him mad.

Ah well. Maybe this next Twilight Town visit would change things. Maybe he’d finally get to know if his dearest dream was a fantasy or could become reality.

*********

A few days later, Ventus arrived for his usual visit, and the next day, two blond-haired teens were waiting for their meal at one table of The Grand Bistro. Ven always made a point to invite Roxas to the restaurant each time he came, hoping that eventually he would get the hint. Or maybe he actually did, and was acting like that deliberately to not hurt his feelings too much…

One of the things he had learned from doing that, however, is that Roxas didn’t like to feel indebted. Since the moment Ven started taking him out, he made a point of buying every single ice cream Ven had while in Twilight Town. He was feeling flattered, of course, but like everything else, he had no idea how to interpret it. Maybe there actually was nothing to interpret there.

At the very least, he had to admit that spending time with Roxas like this was incredibly nice, like a bubble. And he seemed happy too, so, even if it wasn’t as special for him as it was for Ven, at least the time spent like that was worth it.

Ventus was brought out of his thoughts by a realization: two beautiful eyes were staring at him. _Roxas was staring at him._ His mind went in full panic, and he had no other choice but to look away to avoid completely melting. He wasn’t able, however, to prevent his cheeks from burning.

“By the way, you told me Riku came to train with you in the last few days. How did it go?” asked Roxas.

Did he not notice? Did he not understand? Did he not care? Once again, Roxas’s mind was inscrutable. Ah well, it cost nothing to go along in the conversation.

“Well you know, he spent most of his time with Terra,” answered Ven. “The two of them get along pretty well with each other, and training together is beneficial to both of them, because, you know.”

“Yeah.” Roxas paused for a bit. “It’s nice that they are managing to slowly move on from the past.”

“It’s nice that we _all_ manage to slowly move on from the past.”

Roxas chuckled. “You’re right. I think we all bought the wrong life packages.”

“Tell me about it… I want a refund. Now.”

Both teens giggled together. Then Roxas adopted a more serious tone.

“To be perfectly honest with you, Ven… It’s not that easy to move on. I still find myself questioning who I really am.”

“Yeah well, me too, you know. I work out through one memory loss, to find out there’s another memory loss behind. Wonder if I’ll ever find the truth at this rate.”

The atmosphere was now a bit morbid.

“But huh I think it’s better to not think too much about that kind of stuff. We’ll need to handle it, but we shouldn’t linger on it in daily life, and instead focus on problems that are a bit less existential. Like, instead of trying to figure out my past, I’m trying to figure out how to be cool enough to have a chance to…” Ventus suddenly looked away. “Err, I _mean_ , I’m focusing on more immediate matters.”

He had lowered his guard, and almost let things slip up. It was true that his number one worry was to figure out what to do to finally be able to win over Roxas, but that wasn’t something to say out loud. The worst part was that it was perfectly possible that what he said was enough to figure out everything.

He saw Roxas raise an eyebrow, but it was done in such a way it was impossible for Ven to determine the extent of what he understood. He couldn’t help but have the feeling that the one he loved _did_ get every single clue (they weren’t exactly hard to get, after all) and voluntarily acted ambiguous because he wasn’t really interested but didn’t want to hurt him.

Ventus saw the waiter come with their meals, and seized the opportunity to end the awkward silence.

“And speaking of more immediate matters,” he added, “it looks like our meals are coming!”

“About time,” grumbled the other teen.

*********

The eternal sunset was as beautiful as ever on top of the clock tower. Watching it were two young Keyblade wielders, soldiers hardened by battle experience. But this moment was not one to think about that. It was a time to be contemplative, to enjoy the calm and the peace of this place.

Or at least it was supposed to be. This could have been a perfect moment, had Ventus’s head not been prisoner of thoughts about the person right next to him. He was truly becoming crazy. The longer the situation was lasting like this, the harder it would be. And at one point, Ven would just break.

He needed to make a move. He really needed to. But how, with his crush being so unreadable? He had no idea how to do it, when to do it, where to do it, what were his chances, what was the risk… But he was probably overthinking things, right? And it’s not like he had to go all-in immediately. He just had to get a little bolder, to maybe cause a change and finally get the signal he cruelly lacked.

There was something certain. Roxas liked him. It was very possible, probable even, that he didn’t return his feelings, but he liked him. He often said he was glad that they spent time together, he was the one who proposed they spent more time in the first place, he sometimes was complimenting him, there was overall no doubt he appreciated him. And, while Ven had sometimes accidentally slipped into the sappy while interacting with his friend, he had gotten no adverse reaction from it. Maybe his opening was there.

“You know what’s better than watching this beautiful sunset?” he asked, breaking the silence.

“Watching it while eating ice cream?”

“Silly. You’re ruining my moment. Plus we did just that at the instant.”

They were both holding a stick from ice cream they finished dozens of minutes earlier.

“What I was talking about,” pursued Ven, “is another thing I did today.”

“Huh?”

“Watching the sunset… with you.”

“Wow, you can be so cheesy sometimes,” teased Roxas.

“…maybe. But would you fundamentally disagree?”

“…I guess not. Watching it with you does magnify the event.”

Ven’s heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Euphoria filled his body. From this comment, he felt bold, and, without even thinking, he got closer to the one he loved. A smile appeared on his face.

“’Magnify’?” he asked, almost in a whisper. “And _I’m_ the one being cheesy?”

“Quiet, you.”

Ventus was now extremely close to Roxas, nearly touching him. His friend did seem a bit uncomfortable, but did not say anything, nor tried to get away. Ven stopped there before going any further, to be able to get certain of his crush’s actual reaction. He heard his heart loudly in his ears. He was trembling a bit, full of apprehension, but the other teen was not looking at him, so his fear was at least for now remaining secret.

They both remained there, without a word, for a few moments. It wasn’t very long, but it stretched until it seemed like an eternity. Ven was a bit anxious, but, most of all, he was pretty excited, because for now things were going pretty well.

Roxas did a quick glance in his direction, and Ven could see he mostly seemed… confused. And absolutely _adorable_. His facial features were so tender that Ven thought his heart would suddenly explode from the sight. It was taking him all his willpower to stay still and not just jump at him and kiss him right at this instant.

However, as his friend didn’t seem bothered by the situation, Ven felt emboldened to push his luck, and slowly moved his hand toward Roxas’s, until they entered in contact. He could see his crush freeze. His gaze was solidly locked on him, gauging for the reaction to this new development. Time seemed to stand still.

No protest. No disgust. No shown discomfort. Nothing. At that moment, Ventus decided to just run for it, so he put his hand inside Roxas’s, and closed it. And, to his greatest surprise, Roxas did the same. They were now holding hands, together, on the top of the clock tower, watching the sunset. It was surreal. It didn’t feel possible. But here it was, happening on this very instant. Ven’s mind exploded, the pieces scattering everywhere.

He decided to just enjoy the most of this moment while he was gathering himself back together. So, he closed his eyes, tilted his head slightly backwards, and just breathed. He could feel his smile growing.

Seconds passed. Or years. It was impossible to tell. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, not even time passing. Ven couldn’t remember a time where he felt so bursting with happiness.

Once he was back together again, he opened his eyes, and looked at Roxas. That boy really was the greatest gift the World could offer. And he looked so happy… Could it be?

Eventually, the other blond teen also opened his eyes, and looked at him.

“It feels nice, doesn’t it?” asked Ven.

“Yeah,” murmured Roxas.

So he really did. He really did appreciate this intimate moment they shared together. And right now, they were holding hands, watching the sunset. The setting was perfect. Was this the signal he was waiting for? Should he act now?

He took a deep breath.

“Roxas…”

But at the moment he actually was about to do it, anxiety seized him. All his doubts suddenly surfaced from the depths of his mind. He probably was misreading, wasn’t he? This just meant that Roxas liked to be physically affectionate, not necessarily that his feelings were reciprocated. He was still taking a big risk. Roxas was completely out of his league. He was the coolest, while Ven…

“Yeah?”

But now he was expecting an answer.

“I… well…”

Ventus took another deep breath.

“Roxas. I…”

He paused once again.

“I…”

“What is it?”

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do it. He was about to break down. But he came so far! Would an opportunity as good as this one ever present itself again? What kind of stronger signal could he expect? There’ll always be a degree of risk in any confession.

But he couldn’t do it. But he had to do something.

“Roxas. What do you think of us?”

“Huh?”

“What… do you consider us as?”

He wasn’t happy with having to resort to using such a roundabout way. But it was better than nothing.

Roxas chuckled. “That’s easy. We’re the best of friends.”

“Best of friends…”

Despite his best efforts, Ven’s voice betrayed his disappointment. And in hearing that, Roxas’s eyes flashed with something… Was he surprised? Did he – was he really unaware? Did he miss all of the clues?

He shouldn’t make any assumptions, one way or another. He should just, tell things how they are, and hope for the best.

But he couldn’t. The anxiety was too high. He needed an escape route, and to resume this unfinished business later.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” he continued. “It’s the best way to describe our current relationship.” He then looked at his gummiphone. “Wow, it’s getting late. We should go home.”

“Probably.”

Both teens got up, and took their leave.

*********

“Time’s out!” shouted the promoter. “What a sight! In a shocking twist of events, our Champion got soundly defeated by his challenger! Has he gotten sloppy? Will this be the wake-up call that he needs to train before the tournament, if he desires to keep his title? In any case, I am pleased to announce that Roxas here is the winner of this match!”

“Roxas! Roxas!” chanted the crowd.

Rai and Fuu ran in front of Seifer.

“Seifer’s a bit tired from his journey, y’know?”

“Doesn’t count.”

The trio then took its leave.

“Roxas!” shouted Ven, who was running towards him. “That was amazing!”

He had just admired the other blond teen inflicting the humiliation of his life to Seifer. It was done in such a classy manner. It was so cool. There was a reason he was in love with the guy, after all.

“What? Are you going to congratulate him for beating a punk like that now?” teased Lea.

“It’s not about that, Lea. It’s all about the _style_.”

“Style? You call that style? I’ll show you next time was style _really_ is.”

But Ven wasn’t listening.

“Great job Roxas! Pence went to fetch your reward, it should arrive soon.”

“Reward?”

“You know.” Ven winked.

“Oh. Of course.”

The group then left the crowd and went someplace calmer. They sat on a bunch of benches not far from there: Roxas and Ven on one, Xion and Lea on another, and Hayner and Olette on a third. Then Pence came back with ice cream, and sat down next to Olette.

“Never thought I’d ever enjoy seeing Seifer,” declared Hayner. “But that! Everyone’s bound to talk about it for days. Days of people talking about Seifer being humiliated! Can’t tell you how much joy this fills me with.”

“Hayner!” said Olette.

“What? After everything he’s done to mess with our lives, I’d say this is karma, that’s all.”

Ventus tried to disconnect himself from the worries caused by the previous days, and to just share a moment with his friends, basking in the sun. Disconnected from reality, he accidentally touched Roxas’s hand with his own, and, to his surprise, Roxas grabbed it. At that moment, Ven skipped a heartbeat, and he did his best to try not to blush – although he didn’t think he actually succeeded.

The friend group then proceeded to talk about everything for a while. But Ven’s mind wasn’t really there. Roxas had tried to reproduce the experience of the day before, on his own initiative, that was what truly mattered.

He really needed to settle things. This night would be the night of truth.

*********

Like it had become a habit, Roxas and Ven were chatting in their room, lights off, right before going to sleep. That day’s conversation was understandably focused on the events that happened earlier, with Ven gushing over the fight with Seifer. After a while, the conversation ran out, and it seemed like this was the moment to end the day. But Ventus had decided earlier that he’d instead use this moment to do what he should have done the day before.

“Hey, Roxas.”

“Hmm?”

“Remember yesterday at the clock tower?”

“Yes?”

“No. Remember _everything_? All the time we spent together?” He paused slightly. “Isn’t our life great?”

Roxas seemed to take a moment to ponder. Ven’s anxiety was at its highest. But he was feeling ready, he was feeling ready to push forward, he was feeling ready to finally know.

“It is.”

“And, you know, I was wondering if, maybe…” Ven’s voice wavered. “If maybe, you wanted it to be…” It was now only a murmur. “More?”

There, it was said. The truth about his feelings was now lying naked in front of the one who was their object. It was… liberating, in a way. But of course, the anxiety didn’t go away. The answer to this question would be life-defining.

“Our life is perfect as it is, Ven.”

“Ah…” Ventus’s voice was all cracked, as if something was tightening his throat. “Of course. It’s fine. I understand. I don’t know what I expected.” He chuckled. It was fake and hollow. “It’s your choice to make in the end. It’s fine.”

Ven felt incredibly stupid for having believed even for a single second that what he wished for was even possible. Things were how he initially thought: Roxas was way out of his league, and forever would be. He naively believed in “signals” that were overinterpreted by his brain, which only ever wanted to see what he wanted to see. It was all incredibly obvious in hindsight. And it had been obvious even back then, if he just had bothered to think rationally and didn’t let himself get carried away by his emotions.

At least Roxas was gentle in his rejection.

Tears ran down his cheeks. His whole body felt like it was hit by a really heavy object. The pain was unbearable.

The best thing to do was probably to sleep.

“…good night, Roxas.”

But Ventus couldn’t sleep that night.

*********

Eventually, he got up, as it became clear he’d never be able to sleep in that condition. Roxas was fast asleep. Looking at him hurt. Ven obviously wanted to stay friends with him, he’d never throw away such a precious connection. But he would probably need some time alone, for as long as needed for him to be able to get past that hurt.

Yes, that’s what he needed. Time alone.

He decided to leave on the spot. It would be too difficult for him to actually say goodbye to Roxas. But, that would mean his friend would freak out when he woke up, so he decided to at least write a letter to explain what was happening. With the light of his phone, he took a piece of paper, a pen, and wrote:

_Roxas,_

_Sorry for leaving so suddenly, but I needed some time alone. Don’t worry: nothing has changed between us. You’re still my best friend, and everything will stay like before. I just… need to properly digest what happened. I hope you can understand._

_See you soon,_

_Ven._

He deposited the finished letter on top of the mass Roxas formed in his sheets. Then he gathered his belongings, and left the room.

A final obstacle appeared between him and the outside: the stairs, which he knew were incredibly noisy. If he ran them down, he’d wake up the whole house, and goodbye his dreams of a discreet exit. Was he really stuck there?

Wait. He was a _Keyblade wielder_.

Ven glided slightly above the steps, went downstairs, and left the house. He then needed a place to quietly think. Maybe that hill at the Land of Departure would do.

*********

It had now been a few hours that he had been here, sitting down, doing nothing, waiting to feel better. The initial shock had passed, but the pain was still as strong. He didn’t expect a few hours to get rid of it, but… it was difficult.

At least here, without anyone in sight, he let himself cry. Crying was liberating. Before, his chest was so tight he thought he’d eventually become unable to breathe. Now, it still hurt as much, but at least it was more bearable.

What a fool he had been. What a stupid fool he had been. He should have stayed in his place, he really, really shouldn’t have gotten up his hopes like that. What had he even imagined? It was Roxas. Roxas! The most amazing person in the World! He should have known it would end like this. He hurt himself incredibly, for no reason.

Time started to blur on top of that hill. The stars let place to the Sun. The Sun got higher and higher in the sky. And at one point…

Ven’s gummiphone vibrated. Who could it be? Was it Roxas, feeling guilty about what happened, trying something to comfort him? Was it Lea, made aware of what happened, wanting to check on him? Did the news get to Terra and Aqua, were they worried?

He really didn’t want to check. But it could be too many things, so he had to know what it was. He took out his phone, and opened the message.

_Hey Ven,_

_Sorry for messaging you like that, I know you said you wanted to be alone. But… I made a huge mistake. Could we talk? It doesn’t have to be long._

Ven’s heartbeat accelerated. He really needed to be alone. And seeing Roxas right now, of all people, would probably hurt him _terribly_.

But was he going to not help his best friend when he needed it? Not. For. One. Single. Second.

_Sure. I’m at the hill where we often stargaze, at the Land of Departure. You can come._

He sent his answer, then prepared himself, doing his best to harbor an expression that hid his pain. He didn’t want Roxas to feel bad for him on top of whatever he had to deal with.

And then he waited.

*********

Roxas stepped out of a corridor of darkness and arrived on the hill. He joined Ven, and sat right at his left. He removed the coat he took to cross the corridor, to make the atmosphere slightly more comfortable. He tried to look calm, but it was impossible to dissimulate the distress on his face.

“Roxas…” said Ven in a faint voice. “What’s wrong?” He was pretty worried, enough that it temporarily eclipsed his own pain.

“I… I’m not sure where to start,” answered Roxas.

Ventus passed an arm around his shoulders. “Start anywhere,” he said. “I’ll be there for you.”

“So… I… you see…” The words seemed to be stuck in Roxas’s throat. “Ok, ok, let’s just start there. Earlier this morning, I went to see Lea, Isa and Xion at the top of the clock tower. And then I… Well, you know how I used to be a Nobody, and all that? So, I was clueless about some things, and Lea had to fill me in… Anyway, err, in the end, I ended up learning what love was.”

Ven’s eyes widened. Realization traversed his mind. He… didn’t know what love was? Does that mean – does that actually mean…

“And, you know, I realized that maybe, just maybe, there had been some misunderstandings because of that. And, and…”

Ven couldn’t take it anymore. He just threw himself at Roxas, embraced him, and kissed him. Obviously, taken by surprise and shocked, his love didn’t kiss him back. That was okay. He didn’t care. What mattered was that none of them had to hurt anymore.

He then pulled away, but he stayed close, his arms still wrapped around Roxas, his eyes directly gazing in the other’s.

“I love you, Roxas.”

Slowly, Roxas’s mind managed to pull itself back together. And eventually, he managed to speak.

“I love you, Ventus.”

Ven felt ecstatic. The “fantasy” actually became reality. Dreams do come true.

Roxas wrapped his own arms around Ven, tying themselves closer together.

“Can we huh, can we do that again?” he murmured.

And then they kissed. Words cannot describe how Ventus felt. All that could be said is that it was like things were finally as they should be. At their rightful place.

They parted, and their happiness was overflowing. Then Roxas pulled Ven closer, and they stayed like that, enlaced, basking in each other’s warmth, for several minutes. It could have been forever.

They eventually let go, and got back at being sat right next of the other, only closer this time. Ven grabbed Roxas’s hand, who was quite willing to let it happen.

“I’m sorry, Ven. I never wanted to hurt you like that.”

“No, _I’m_ sorry, Roxas. I should have realized that what I thought was obvious and common knowledge wasn’t necessarily the case. I know about you, yet the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. I failed you.”

“Nonsense. The only thing you have failed is in convincing me that sea-salt ice cream isn’t the best flavor of ice cream.”

They laughed.

“So…” started Roxas. “I guess we’re together now?”

“Looks like it,” answered Ven. “You’re my boyfriend now, Roxas.” He grimaced a bit. “Actually, Roxas always sounded a bit too formal. Can I call you Rox?”

Roxas took a few seconds to think about it, then leaned closer. “Just you.”

“Okay, Rox. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Ventus had a lot of failures in his life. But in the end, they all paled out next to the success he just managed to obtain: be the coolest person of the World’s boyfriend. Roxas was his love, his light, his everything. He was the one to give him the strength to keep going forward. And he wouldn’t trade this for anything. Anything.


End file.
